Richard O’Sullivan, British Sitcom Star Who Inspired John Ritter’s ‘Three’s Company’ Character, Dies at 82

British actor Richard O’Sullivan, whose Man About the House character Robin Tripp provided the inspiration for John Ritter’s Three’s Company role, has died. He was 82. O’Sullivan died surrounded by close family at Brinsworth House, a care home in west London, on Friday, according to BBC News. He had lived there for 23 years after suffering a stroke in 2003. A cause of death wasn’t given. “My dad was as funny and charming in real life as he appeared on our TV screens over the years,” said his son, James, in a statement. “Although much of his career happened before I was born, I was fortunate enough to be able to enjoy and witness his incredible talents on the countless re-runs of his shows that made him the respected and loved actor that he was.” O’Sullivan’s biggest role came in 1973 with Man About the House, written by Johnnie Mortimer and Brian Cooke. The Briton played student chef Robin Tripp in the show, considered pretty daring for its time as it depicted a man living in a London flat with two single women, Chrissy (Paula Wilcox) and Jo (Sally Thomsett). The landlords, George (Brian Murphy) and his sexually frustrated wife, Mildred (Yootha Joyce), are told that Robin is gay. The series would go on to inspire the beloved ABC comedy Three’s Company, developed by Don Nicholl, Michael Ross and Bernie West, that aired for eight seasons from 1977 to 1984. John Ritter played O’Sullivan’s role, a man called Jack Tripper who platonically lives alongside two women in Santa Monica. The spin-off of Man About the House, a series called Robin’s Nest in which O’Sullivan reprised his role as Robin Tripp, would also be the basis for Three’s Company sequel Three’s a Crowd, which ran on ABC in 1984. Robin’s Nest followed O’Sullivan’s character and Vicky Nicholls, played by Tessa Wyatt (O’Sullivan’s real-life partner from 1978 to 1985), an unmarried couple who share a flat over an abandoned Chinese takeaway owned by Vicky’s father, James. O’Sullivan was born in Middlesex, England, in 1944 and found his knack for acting early. He played a child singing in the Sunday School sequence of 1953’s The Yellow Balloon, before landing the lead role in The Stranger’s Hand with Alida Valli and Trevor Howard. One of O’Sullivan’s earliest television roles was in an episode of Sherlock Holmes titled “The Unlucky Gambler,” which aired when he was just 11 years old. He played a small role in 1959’s Carry On Teacher and starred as the younger brother of Audrey Hepburn’s Gabrielle in The Nun’s Story that same year. In the early ’60s, O’Sullivan appeared in two Cliff Richard films, The Young Ones (1961) and Wonderful Life (1964). For most of the 1960s, O’Sullivan’s work was focused on television, such as in Emergency Ward 10, Redcap, Danger Man and No Hiding Place. Among some of his best-known appearances aside from Man About the House and Robin’s Nest are playing the titular character in 1979’s Dick Turpin series, as well as 1971’s Doctor at Large and 1972’s Doctor in Charge. In the ’80s, he starred in Me and My Girl, and in 1991 led ITV’s Trouble in Mind. O’Sullivan had a relationship with his Man About the House co-star Sally Thomsett and later, with Wyatt, with whom he had his son James.